Many sports use sticks, bats or other hand-held implements that must be operated with speed, control and agility by the player. Specifically, lacrosse involves the use of a lacrosse stick. A lacrosse stick is typically comprised of a slender shaft or stick, the length of which is capped on one end by a soft end piece, and on the other end by a head. The shaft is the component that players grip when using the stick. The head is a frame, typically plastic and pear or gourd-shaped, with the broadest section furthest distal from the stick body, and holes around the sides where the nylon or leather is strung. This creates a “pocket” that can be used to catch, throw, and hold a ball. The broader section at the end of the head most distal from the stick is sometimes called the “shooting string,” and the narrower segment between the distal end and the point at which the head couples to the stick, is sometimes called the “pocket.” The soft plastic end piece attaches to the “butt end” of the shaft, and covers the metal edge at the end of the shaft to avoid inadvertent cutting or scraping against the metal edge at the end of the shaft.
A lacrosse stick is operated by one or two hands. Most of the elite lacrosse sticks today are made of extremely light weight but durable shafts, formed of aluminum or carbon fiber. However, in winter and in colder climates, problems arise when players attempt to grip the lacrosse shaft and manipulate a lacrosse stick. In cold temperatures, players' hands become colder and their joints become less agile, and the cold aluminum or carbon fiber of the lacrosse shaft is uncomfortable and distracting for a player. Additionally, the lacrosse shaft itself often conducts heat away from a player's hands, exacerbating the coldness.
A suggested resolution to this is to wear gloves to protect a player's hands from the cold. For example, women's lacrosse players may wear thin gloves and men's lacrosse players may wear thicker padded gloves to address the cold temperatures, though either players may attempt to use either thin or thick gloves. However, while wearing common lacrosse gloves, and especially where such gloves are thick, the gloves also inhibit movement and reduce grip by the hands and fingers, and consequently limit dexterity. Further, even thin gloves may limit dexterity, and even thick gloves may not offer adequate protection against cold temperatures. Therefore, for both men's and women's lacrosse, gloves are not a solution to the problems created by cold weather for lacrosse players.
There remains a need for a lacrosse shaft that can be gripped and manipulated in cold weather, without the need for gloves, and that minimizes or alleviates the discomfort and distraction of the cold.